Supernatural Life of Zack and Cody
by CrazyWriter.john
Summary: Zack, Cody, and a bit of the paranormal. Read and review, future chapters to come shortly.
1. Chapter 1

I should probably start from the beginning. My name is Cody Martin, and I'm twelve years old. I have a twin brother, Zack, who, uh, is also twelve, but you probably already knew that since we're twins. Zack and I live in this big hotel with my mother who's a singer at the hotel's lounge. That's kind of the boring stuff though, and it doesn't really have anything to do with what happened, which is what I'm sure you're more interested about.

It was mid October. Mom yelled at us to get up and get ready for school. Groggily, I rolled over in my bed and planted both of my feet softly on the hard carpet. With some effort, I pushed off from my bed and stood straight up, making sure to quickly take a few steps, lest my sleepiness overpower my mother-induced vigor. I glanced over at my brother's bed and was surprised to find that he was already awake and holding his head. I stretched, taking in the near euphoric feeling as my arms tested their limits and my back arched considerably, trying to remove the last vestige of immobility from my body. After a terrific yawn, I rubbed my eyes.

"What's wrong?" A minor yawn escaped my mouth as I tried to find out why Zack was holding his head. He could just be trying to play sick – he ditched school a lot. Or tried to, anyhow.

"My head hurts." He rubbed at his forehead as he spoke, words conveying the anguish he must've felt. For a split second, it almost felt as if my head hurt too. A sharp pain in my forehead, like the most intense headache I've ever had. I chalked that up to twin empathy, something we had long ago discovered existed, at least at some minute level. Before I could say anything, Mom walked in to find out what was keeping us.

"Hey, guys, breakfast is ready. It's time to get up." She cast a doubtful eye towards Zack, prepared for what she must have assumed was going to be his newest ploy to get out of going to school.

He groaned and dropped his head on to the bed and then pulled his pillow up and put it on top of his head. I decided to speak up for him. "Mom, Zack says his head hurts. I think it's pretty bad."

"It'll get better with a little food. If it still hurts after you eat, you can take an ibuprofen before school now up." Zack groaned again, obviously not enthused by the idea of getting up too much. Mom didn't appear to be too believing of his condition. "Well, if you feel that badly, you can spend the day with me, but I'm going to be going shoe shopping, and you can't stay here alone." A mumbled response came from the pillow. "What?"

Zack threw the pillow towards me. I missed it, of course, and it hit a bookshelf instead. Zack said, with a moderate amount of disgust, "I said I'd go to school. Sheesh." Getting up, he walked out towards the kitchen, but not before Mom wrapped an arm around him and kissed his head. "That's my little guy." I followed Zack out, and she gave me the same treatment. "Keep an eye on your big brother, will you?" Even though we're twins, Mom and Dad both refer to Zack as my "big brother". Maybe it's because he was born first, and maybe it's because he acts older in some respects. But, really, we both look out for each other.

We ate breakfast in silence. Zack kept one hand on his head and just kind of played with the pancakes on his plate, running them through a pool of syrup and mutilating them instead of actually eating anything. When I had finished, we took turns getting dressed, using the bathroom, and then headed off to school.

Sometimes we walk to school, but normally we take the city bus. If the empathetic feelings I had had earlier weren't enough to tip me off, the fact that Zack maintained his claims of forehead pain, kept rubbing at his head, and just generally seemed to be sick the entire ride there were enough to clue me in that this was for real. If he had just been trying to ditch school, he would've returned to his usual, jovial self the second we had left school. Or he had gotten much better at acting. The bus pulled to a stop in front of the school. We got up and walked out, joining the ranks of the other hundreds of kids filing through the black gated entrance and into the large red building that was Buckner Middle School.

We stepped inside and made our way to the identical lockers we had been assigned. Since lockers, like most things in school, were assigned alphabetically, Zack and I were always right next to each other. After gathering our books, we walked off towards our first class – Algebra. It was odd. Recently, Zack had started doing really well in school. Like, 100% on most tests, so he had been pushed up into my classes. It was kind of annoying. I was supposed to be the smart one, and he was supposed to be the athletic one. Now he had both. So what does that make me, other than his lame "younger" brother who couldn't catch a pillow if my life depended on it.

Zack and I sat down. He put his head on his desk. It didn't look all that out of place. More than half the class was trying to catch a quick nap before the teacher came in. He was an old guy, short, well kept gray hair, glasses, a neat button down shirt, slacks, and a pair of Oxfords. Most of the younger teachers tried to get away with dressing as cool as possible, but Mr. Burns, our Algebra teacher, liked to dress like a "professional". At least, that's what he said. He started the day, like he did every day, with a quiz. As he was passing them out, most of the class got up from their temporary slumber. Everyone except Zack, that is. I poked him in the back with my pencil.

"Zack," I whispered harshly, "Mr. Burns is passing the quiz out. Get up." He swatted back at the pencil as I poked him again, but, at the very least, got up. The quizzes were passed back, and we got ten minutes to complete the three questions, all dealing with quadratics. Easy. Zack seemed to remain stationary, staring at his quiz for the first eight minutes. Then, all of a sudden, he wrote at light speed, put his pencil down, and rested his head again. I tried to peer over at what he had done, but I couldn't see.

Mr. Burns called time, and we passed the tests up to the front. Zack needed a little bit of prodding, but he eventually complied. As the quizzes got to the front, Mr. Burns riffled through them, like he does every morning, to get an idea of how well people did on the quiz. Somehow, I knew that the one he stopped and stared at would be Zack's. I couldn't read the expression, but I don't think it was good. He looked from the quiz to my brother, slumped over in his desk, possibly asleep.

"Zack. Martin" He said each word carefully and precisely, as if each was its own sentence. He didn't speak loudly, but he didn't have to. Nobody ever talked when Burns was talking. Zack slowly glanced up, acknowledging his presence. "What is this?" He shook the paper and indicated the first question, which had been to find the minimum or maximum of the function. Easy, so long as you had the formula. But it didn't look like that's what Zack did. In fact, I have no idea what he did, other than got the right answer.

Zack shrugged. "My quiz?" The class giggled. Mr. Burns didn't seem to find it very funny.

"Would you like to come up to the board and demonstrate to your classmates your quiz?"

"Not really. My head hurts." Again, laughter. Mr. Burns glared at them, and they fell silent. He turned his eyes back to Zack. Gosh, I just wish he'd stop grilling Zack. He didn't feel well, after all.

"That was rhetorical, Mr. Martin. Get up here now." Again, he didn't scream it, but everyone could feel his command. Zack slowly got up and walked up to the board, taking his quiz. Slowly, he wrote out the first question, speaking as he wrote.

"Find the absolute minimum or maximum, whichever may apply, for the following function:

f(x) = (2x +3)^2 + 17x + 35

2(2x +3) * 2 + 17 = 0

8x + 12 + 17 = 0

8x + 29 = 0

x = -29/8, and that'll be your x coordinate.

Plug that back in so f(-29/8) and that'll be your y coordinate. What's the problem?"

The class looked confused. Mr. Burns just looked angry. "The problem, Mr. Martin, is that I never taught you any of this. Where, exactly, did you learn the first derivative test?" Derivative? What?

Zack just shrugged. "I dunno. I think I read it somewhere?"

"Picking up Calculus in your spare time, Mr. Martin?" Calculus? When had Zack learned that. How had Zack learned that. None of this made any sense. Zack seemed to be getting flustered, and his eyes winced in even more pain.

"Look, it's just that" but whatever it was he never got a chance to finish. Zack stopped speaking for a second and closed his eyes. When he opened them, his nose started to bleed profusely. He reached a finger up and wiped some of the blood off on to its tip. Bringing it back up, he looked carefully at it, and then promptly fell to the floor.

When Zack had fallen over, people screamed and Mr. Burns quickly tried to silence them and then called an ambulance on his cell phone and had someone run to the office to let them know we had an emergency. The nurse came in, checked his pulse and some other things, but she said there wasn't much she could do. It didn't take long for the EMTs to come in. They did some stuff to Zack, got him on a stretcher, and then carried him off. Whatever it was, it was serious.

I didn't really notice that I hadn't moved since he fell. I didn't really notice when the nurse helped me out of my desk and took me to the front office. Mom had been called and was on her way to the hospital. I sat there, numbly, swinging my feet back and forth. What else could I do?

Mr. Moseby, my Mom's boss and the hotel manager, came to pick me up and take me to the hospital. He tried to talk to me on the way there, but I didn't feel much like talking, and he gave up. He'd do things like put a hand on my shoulder and tell me everything was going to be alright. I knew he was trying to be nice, but right now I just wanted to be alone. Or with Zack.

We got to the hospital and I ran up to the doors, ahead of Moseby. I don't know why, but I half expected to walk in and just see Mom and Zack and doctors and stuff. I walked in and just saw a reception desk. Moseby came in a little ways behind me and dropped a hand to my shoulder. "The emergency room is this way." He steered me off towards where, apparently, Zack would be. We finally got to a waiting room, and Mom was sitting there in tears. It was a big, white room with bright fluorescent lights and ugly red couches and waiting chairs in it. It had two exits: the hallway Moseby and I came down, and another hallway that I could only guess were where the patients were. When Mom saw us, she got up and buried me in a hug, "Oh my baby, I can't believe I didn't listen to him. I'm so sorry, Cody. Please, I'm so sorry. I love you both so much. God, please just let him be alright. I'm so very sorry." I hugged her back, but I didn't know what to say, so I just kept holding on to her. Moseby said he was going to go find a doctor.

Mom and I let go of each other and sat down on a couch. It wasn't comfortable – you know the kind of polyester couches that they have at hospitals that are too firm, too scratchy, and just have that general sick feeling, because hundreds of other people have already sat on them? I didn't really either, till I had sat in it, but I'll never forget it. I looked up at Mom and finally asked the question that I had been burning to know. When I first tried, I had trouble getting noise past this lump in my throat. When I forced my voice through it, tears burned in my eyes. "Mom, is Zack going to be okay?"

I felt cold all over. Mom pulled me closer to her and wrapped her arms around me again. She placed her head on top of mine, shielding me almost completely with her body and whispered, "I don't know, sweety." She started to rub my back, like she used to when Zack and I were little, and I fell asleep.

I woke up when a doctor came out and told us that we could see him. I saw that Moseby was asleep in an armchair. Mom and I got up and followed the doctor back into a room. Zack was there, lying in a bed and dressed in a hospital gown. He had a lot of machines hooked up to him, and he looked tired and worn out. There were dark shadows underneath his eyes, but he looked fine otherwise. He was still Zack, anyway. Mom started to cry again as she walked towards Zack and gave him a gentle hug. She told him how sorry she was that she ignored his headache and how this was all her fault. Zack held her and comforted her.

"It's not your fault, Mom. You didn't know. These things just happen, and they're not anybody's fault. But I'm fine now, and I'm going to be fine." Mom released and dried her eyes.

"Oh, look at me, making such a big fuss when you're just as calm as can be. I just want you to know how much I love you, Zack. Both of you," she added, looking back towards me. I was standing awkwardly behind her. It seemed so weird to see Zack in a fragile state like this. Still, he had a different sort of commanding strength about him now, something he had never had before. He just seemed... in charge of the situation. And that was very new. "I'm going to go get a doctor and see when I can take you home." Mom left, and I moved to sit down in the chair next to Zack.

"So, how're you feeling?" I felt stupid for asking questions like this. Zack and I were supposed to be so close. And we used to be. But all of a sudden I felt a disconnect with him. Like this was a side of my brother I had never seen before.

"Tired, Cody. It feels like I've been running a marathon. And my brain feels like it's in overdrive." He laughed a little and smiled at me. "Sorry. Cody, can I tell you something weird?"

"Yeah, sure, anything, Zack."

"You can't tell anyone this, okay?"

"I promise, Zack."

"Recently it feels like...this is going to sound weird, but it feels like I know what other people are thinking." We stared at each other. Was Zack really this sick, or was he just playing a joke?

"You mean like you can read minds?" I giggled. "Read my mind, Zack!"

Zack rolled his eyes like I was being immature or something. "It's not like that. I can't just read minds. It's more like...it's hard to explain, but it's like I can get inside somebody's head and see the thoughts they're having. That's how I knew how to do that math problem. Mr. Burns was thinking that it would be easier to solve it using calculus, and I saw what he meant and did it." We stared at each other. Did he really expect me to believe this?

"How long has this been going on? Wait a minute, is that how you've been doing so well in school? Zack, that's like cheating!"

He laughed. "It's not cheating. Is it cheating for smart kids to use their brains? And besides, I couldn't control it at first. It took me a while to get a handle on it. But I'm getting better. Well, until this morning anyway."

"Do you think that's what caused you to, you know, fall and pass out and stuff?"

Zack nodded. "Yep. It was when I was doing it that my nose started to bleed. I've been doing it a lot lately to keep up in classes. I'll need to cut back some, I suppose." He smiled. "I've also been doing it to get into Maddy's head."

I laughed too. "Dude, that's messed up!"

"I know. I'm going to quit it. Besides, it's not like I get to see what I want anyway. I can only really feel what people are thinking. Digging through memories is harder." There was a knock at the door. Mom came in.

"The doctors want to keep you here overnight, sweety, and run some more tests. As long as nothing else happens though, I can take you home in the morning."

"Awesome." Zack smiled. "Mom? Is it alright if I go to sleep? I mean, I love seeing you guys and everything, but I'm awfully tired." Mom walked over and stroked his hair and kissed him again on the forehead.

"Of course, baby. I'll be right here in case anything goes wrong. Cody, Mr. Moseby is going to take you back to the hotel, and Maddy is going to babysit you until I get home. Be good, please." I nodded. Zack and I said our goodbyes, and I headed out towards Mr. Moseby.

I spent the whole car trip thinking about what Zack had told me. Could he really read minds?


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Thanks for the reviews and the one error catch in the previous chapter. It's been far too long since I've done that without a calculator. Apparently, most of my page breaks were lost when I uploaded the chapter to Fanfiction, so I can definitely see how that chapter could have been disorienting. I'm going to try and fix that with this one with more textual page breaks. Other than that, I do have a very definite plan for how this story is going to unfold. My previous two works both died because I began them with only a vague idea of what I wanted to do, and they grew far too vast and directionless to continue. I may complete them at some point, but, for now, I'll be focusing on this story.**

We rode back to the hotel in silence. Moseby tried to make a few attempts to talk to me, but I didn't offer much more than just one word answers. I didn't feel much like talking right then, and I definitely didn't feel much like talking about Zack. So much was going through my head about him. Could he really do what he said? Read minds? But I didn't see any other possibility. It was stupid, of course. Reading minds was just kid's stuff, like a bad science-fiction story. And if that's the case, how had Zack been doing so well in school lately? Maybe he was just as smart as I was. It made me feel guilty, wishing that Zack stayed the way he had been – not stupid, but he didn't care about learning. And now everything was just coming to him. I sighed. There was also the hospital visit to consider. This could just all be some elaborate prank by Zack. He had done it before. But it didn't feel like one.

Soon, our car ride ended, and we got back to the hotel. Moseby had hotel things to take care of, so he said goodnight and walked back to his office. I went over towards the candy counter where Maddie was busy packing up the unsold candy, unloading the register, and just generally preparing to close for the night. I walked over and laid my arms and head on the counter. She looked down at me with a sort of sad smile, one side of her mouth arched up.

"Hey, Cody. How you feelin'?" I shrugged. Her voiced dripped with sympathy. I liked Maddie – not like Zack did – but I liked her all the same. She was nice and seemed to genuinely care about other people. Still, I didn't feel much like talking about how I felt. How was I supposed to feel? Maddie bent down behind the counter and then came back up with a chocolate bar and pushed it towards me. "Here, have this."

I gently took the bar with one hand and examined it. Then I pushed it back to Maddie. "I don't have any money."

She laughed and placed it next to my head. "Come on, it's on the house."

I shook my head. "I'm not very hungry. Sorry." I raised my head and stared at the bar. Maddie smiled and placed my hand in hers. She squeezed gently, in a reassuring manner.

"Keep it. Just in case." I nodded and picked the bar up.

"So you're babysitting tonight, right?"

"Yep, just as soon as I finish up in here.**" **I smiled and unwrapped the candy bar, munching on it as I sat in one of the many lobby chairs, waiting for Maddie to finish. Everything seemed to get much better.

***

Maddie and I spent most of the night playing video games. She wasn't very good at them, but neither was I really. It was nice to not be getting crushed by Zack for a change. Pretty soon, I wasn't even faking laughter either. It was legitimately fun. After the fifth game of Halo, Maddie threw her head back into the sofa and tossed the controller away in defeat.

"Aren't you tired of killing me yet? How about we watch a movie?"

"Sure!" It was getting late, and a movie would extend my bedtime by a good hour and a half easily. I was definitely for that.

"Oh," Maddie cried while flipping channels, "how about Carrie?" Maddie looked at me with a wide smile on her face.

"What's that?"

"It's based on a Stephen King novel. It's a classic!" She exclaimed. I was a little apprehensive about it. Scary movies were normally Zack's thing. "Aw, come on, if it gets too bad, we can change it."

"Okay," I didn't want her to think I was scared. I curled up on the couch and watched. It was kind of dark and eerie, and it didn't take much more than the gym scene to convince me this movie wasn't for me. I guess Maddie must've noticed, because she got up and came back with Blankie, the security blanket I had kept ever since I was little. Curled up with Blankie, the movie wasn't quite so bad. About an hour into it, I fell asleep.

***

Slam! Slam! Slam! I opened my eyes and peered out from underneath Blankie's blue coverage. It was pitch black. I could feel that I was on the sofa. The television was off. I didn't see anyone else. Another slam came from the doorway. Footsteps. I could hear the metallic sound of locks being fiddled with. Creek of a door. A long, horizontal beam of light invaded from the hallway as Maddie opened the door slightly. Mom walked inside. Low voices. Couldn't make out the words. Maddie walked back towards my room, where I suppose she had been sleeping. Mom walked towards the couch. I looked up at her. She smiled and knelt over. Lips on my forehead and fingers gently stroking my hair.

"Go back to sleep." I closed my eyes. Phone rang. Mom scrambled to answer it. Phone rang again. She picked it up.

"Hello?" She asked quietly. Tiredly. Maybe annoyed? "Yes." Pause. "It's already being taken care of." Another pause. "No, just the one. Can't we talk about this in the morning?" She looked over at me. I kept my eyes closed and slowed my breathing. Her voice was almost a whisper now. "I suppose you're right. Meet me in the lobby in half an hour." Mom hangs up the phone. She walks back towards my room. She and Maddie talk.

"That was the doctor. I need to go back to the hospital. I'll be back soon." She walks out. Door closes. Lock turns.

I start counting off minutes in my head. Why would she go meet the doctor at the hotel lobby? That didn't make any sense. And why didn't she seem very concerned about the doctor's call. One minute down. Maybe everything was going to be alright. But if everything was going to be alright, wouldn't they have just waited till morning? So something had to be wrong if they were going to call this late. But then Mom should have seemed more upset. Two down. She probably knows more than I do. I just need to find out what this is all about. I'll sneak down to the lobby and listen. Zack's my brother, after all. I have a right to know what's wrong with him! Three minutes. She had to be at the elevator by now. Slowly, I got up off the couch. I set Blankie back down. He'd have to stay here. I walked over towards the door and carefully unlocked it. Every metallic click seemed to sound like a blast of thunder that would certainly wake Maddie up. But she didn't stir. When the door was unlocked, I turned the nob gently and opened it. There was some light in the hallway, but not much.

I walked back over towards the couch and picked up Blankie. Maybe this was a job for him. Wrapping him around my upper torso, I padded over towards the door and gently closed it. Checking to make sure nobody was in the hallway, I crept down towards the elevator. "Too noisy," I muttered. I'd have to take the stairs. I walked over towards the stairway exit. Gulped. Twenty-three floors to go. The stairs felt cold beneath my bare feet. I hugged Blankie tighter, trying to ward off the inner chill I felt. Twenty floors left. I kept walking, wondering if this was a good idea. If Zack were here, I'd have protested. I didn't like things to be scary. Mom called me sensitive. He called me a wuss. But I wasn't either. I just didn't like being scared. Who does? Fifteen floors left. I'd made it far enough that I couldn't turn around, but I knew that didn't mean I was going to make it. I was tired, and this was creepy. Every shadow seemed to jump out at me. Every creek in the floor was a serial killer. I wanted to be back in the suite, in bed, with Zack snoring next to me. Ten left. I couldn't run down the stairs – that would cause too much noise. I didn't want Mom to know I was coming down here. She'd be angry. Eight to go. And if Moseby or any of the hotel staff saw me, they'd know right away to take me back up to the suite and tell Mom. She'd get in trouble for me being out of bed. They didn't like us playing in the hotel. Apparently, it wasn't good for business. It wasn't our fault the hotel was so fun to play in. Four left. Three. Two. Main floor.

As I walked down, I poked my head around the curvature to look into the lobby without being seen. Mom was sitting in a couch, her back to me. She had pretty good ears, though, for out-of-bed children, having raised Zack and me, so I'd need to be extra careful. Taking one step at a time, and very slowly, I crept down the stairs and into the lobby, crawling quietly behind the reception desk, hardly daring to breathe. As soon as I had gotten to my hiding place, I heard the door open and footsteps. Voices.

"Carey," the male voice said. I had to keep myself from shouting out. Carefully, I looked out from behind the counter. It was really him. I had to be imagining it.

"Kurt," it was Dad. Mom didn't sound surprised, or angry, or even happy to see him. It was just matter of factly. What in the world was he doing here? Was this all because of Zack? It must've been more serious than I thought. They shook hands. That was weird.

"Why don't you fill me in on what's been happening? I came as soon as I got your message, but I didn't really know what to think." He sat down across from Mom. Neither of them saw me.

"Well, it's just about what I said. Zack has manifested." He nodded, apparently understanding what Mom was talking about. I didn't. "By the looks of it, it's a pretty painless manifestation, aside from the usual side effects."

"Headaches and passing out?"

"Pretty much. His final manifestation was in school today. They sent him to the emergency room before I could get there. I've been covering most of it up – the headaches. Kurt, what does this mean?"

He sighed and shrugged. "I don't know, and I won't know till our people can take a look at him. My best guess though is that they cure didn't take. There was always a lot of skepticism that it would." He shook his head. "We just didn't know enough about what we were doing. Not enough time."

Mom scratched her nose. "Where are you based now?"

"You know I can't tell you that. Part of the deal. You're not in the organization anymore. You wanted out, and you got it."

"It's not like there weren't strings attached."

"What, you think raising these two means you're entitled to classified information?"

"So it's government again? But they shut us down the first time."

"I didn't say that. Look, Carey, don't ask these questions. I can't give you the answers. You know how it works. You wanted a normal life, away from it all, and you've got it. You wanted kids, and you got those too. The way I see it, you've made out of this pretty well. Don't pull this entitlement crap now."

Mom sighed and stared down at the floor. "What's going to happen to Zack now?"

"He's too dangerous to leave here. We're moving him now." They stared at each other. Mom finally nodded. "Carey, it's important that you're honest with me about this. Has Cody manifested? Even in the slightest sign?"

Mom took a few seconds before shaking her head. "No, he hasn't had any of the symptoms. I think the cure took with him." Dad kept staring at her, not saying anything. "Kurt, please, I promise, I'd tell you if he had, but Cody's normal." Finally, Dad consented. He started to stand up. "Kurt, wait. If you're taking Zack, what am I supposed to tell Cody?"

Dad stood up. "Tell him that Zack died. It'll be true, in a sense. Zack Martin will have died tonight."

"So you want me to lie to him?" Mom's voice sounded strained.

"You've lied to them all their lives. What, you've finally grown a conscience?" He laughed. "You think taking care of these two makes up for anything we did to them?"

"No, it's not that. It's just..." She trailed off.

"Oh my God, you really care about them, don't you? Like a mother." Dad stared at her in disbelief.

Mom was crying now. "I can't help it. At first it was just this last job, but all the time I've spent with them, how can I not? I love them. Both of them, and I don't want to see them get hurt."

Dad grabbed her shoulders forcefully, and turned her to look straight at him. "You listen to me. This is your last job, and then you're done – that's the deal. Keep the kids hidden and off the radar. They're looking for them right now. All the kids. And we can't let that happen. If what you're telling me right now is that you're compromised and can't do that, I'll remove Cody tonight too without a second thought. Understand?"

She nodded. "I can do it, Kurt. I'll keep them safe. Just promise me you won't hurt Zack if you don't have to."

Dad looked down at her coldly. "No promises. If anything develops, you let me know." He walked out towards the door. Mom sat there and cried into her hands. Knowing I had to get back to the suite before she did, I crept back towards the stairs, still shocked by what I had heard. Two floors up, I took the elevator back up and crept into the suite, locking the door behind me. Lying on the couch with Blankie still surrounding me, I stared at the ceiling, unable to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

I didn't sleep that night. I just kept staring up at the ceiling, hardly able to conceive of what I had just heard. I wanted to wake up and realize this had all been a horrible nightmare. Mom wasn't my mom? Dad didn't love us? Zack was leaving? I still was unclear on a lot of points, but I wasn't sure I could ask Mom about any of it, and asking Dad was obviously out of the question. They were the enemy now, best I could gather. That thought almost made me laugh – as if I had had an enemy before now! But I couldn't tell anyone, could I? Who would believe me? They'd say it was stress, or a wild imagination, or that I had misheard something. I had tried lying to myself in the elevator; that I must have misheard them or misunderstood what they said. I knew I didn't though. Deep down, I knew that everything was true. "Except she does love me," I finally whispered out to no one. "She even cried over us."

Near daybreak, the door opened, and I closed my eyes. I could hear Mom, even if I couldn't see her, walking over towards me. I could feel her standing over me. Her hot tears dropped down on to my prone body. Gently, she dried them with Blankie. "I love you Cody. I love you so much, and I'm so very sorry for everything I've done." Gently, she lifted me up and held me close to her. I feigned sleep for another hour or so as she held me that whole time. Finally, I started to stir and open my eyes. She was still holding me in her arms, smiling down at me with genuine affection. But there was a deep sadness there now. One I hadn't ever seen before. No tears, but a very profound sense of loss. I hardly trusted myself to speak. We stared at each other a while longer as I pretended to orient myself. She leaned in and kissed my hair softly.

"Good morning, sleepy head." She offered a very fake smile that seemed sadder than had she simply bawled.

"G...good morning." The words didn't want to come. I knew what was about to happen. She'd tell me Zack had died last night. I had to play the part of sadness, because she didn't know I knew it wasn't true. She'd have to play the part of a grieving mother, lest anyone suspect she had already cried all the tears that would come. My next sentence almost killed me. "When do we get to go pick up Zack?"

No tears, but her eyes closed and breathing became sharp. She pulled me in close. "Baby, I'm so sorry. Your brother...Zack...oh my God, Cody," her grip on me tightened. I prepared myself. "Cody, Zack died last night. In the hospital. The doctors said," but I didn't wait for what she had decided the doctors said. I pushed away.

"No!" I shook my head violently. In spite of myself, I was crying. I knew it was a lie, and I was crying because of how much truth that held. I'd never see him again. That's what Dad had said. Zack Martin was dead. "He's not dead! He can't be dead! The doctors said he'd come home today."

Mom brought her hand up to cover her mouth. I thought she was going to cry again. I can't believe I had ever been taken in by her act of love. She was a monster. If she really loved me this much, she wouldn't, couldn't do this to me. I ran towards my room, slamming the door as I walked in. Falling to my knees I cried into Blankie's comforting fabric shoulder. I felt an arm snake its way around me. Startled, I jumped and looked up. I had forgotten Maddie spent the night here. She was crying too.

"I heard your Mom. Cody..." She pulled me in closer and held me as we both cried over the death of my brother. Only, I knew what really happened.

***

Eventually, I left my room. Mom and I went to the hospital. Maddie went home. The doctors gave us their condolences. They said Zack's body had already been moved to the morgue. Mom didn't want me to see it. She said it would be too traumatic, and she didn't want me to remember him like that. It's because there was no body to see. The entire hotel staff was somber after that. They were super polite. Lots of hugs. Lots of telling me how sorry they were. I'm pretty sure I could even have skateboarded through the lobby without Moseby so much as raising his voice at me. But I didn't do any of that.

In fact, I didn't do much of anything after Zack left. Or died, whatever they call it. I didn't feel like talking to anyone. At school, I didn't spend time much with anyone. Most of my friends became distant, and I don't blame them. I was a constant reminder of Zack. My teachers were polite, but that's about it. I'm sure they couldn't quickly forget the rising star that was my brother. Nor could they really shut themselves off to the intense heart-ache that I induced whenever I walked into a room. I mean, what do you say to a kid whose twin just died? All my classes became pass-fail, and I had an extension on any assignment I didn't feel up to doing. Which was most of them, but not because of some sort of depression.

Zack's funeral service was quick, quiet, and clean. It was a closed casket, probably because there wasn't any body to show. Mom cried, as I knew she would. I stood there stoically. Dad didn't show up for the funeral. I asked Mom about it, one of the only things I had said to her since that night, and she pointedly ignored my questions. Which was fine. What was she going to tell me, anyway? Another lie.

Most of the time I spent alone, either in my room with Blankie or walking around the city. I had thought of trying to investigate it at the library, but that quickly got shot down the minute I sat down at a computer and tried to figure out what I should start searching. All I knew was that Mom and Dad were involved in something, and they had taken Zack away from me. I also considered going back to the hospital to investigate, but if Dad had the power to remove Zack and then stage such an elaborate cover-up, he certainly would be able to figure out that I was asking questions. What would he try to do to me?

I might be a coward because I wasn't willing to risk asking these questions. But I was too scared. Too scared to risk getting abducted, whisked away in the middle of the night. I was afraid at home of Mom, someone who, despite her claims of unconditional love, had allowed my brother to be taken from me. I was afraid for Zack, and whatever may be happening to him. And I was afraid for myself. That was my life for months on end.

***

It was mid-April when Mom gave me the news that brought me ought of my slump.

"Your Dad is coming to visit for the weekend." I dropped the water glass I had been holding. It shattered on the floor, spilling its contents along the hard floor.

"What? Why is he coming here?" Mom went to the closet and got the broom. She started sweeping up the glass, paying extra special attention not to look me in the eyes.

"I think he wants to see you. After all, he is your father."

"He was Zack's father too, and he didn't even show up to the funeral." I knew I should be close to tears, but I couldn't bring myself to feign them. That wasn't a real funeral. It was a mockery of my brother.

"Well, sweety, I think he wants a chance to explain that to you." I shook my head.

"I don't want him to explain it to me. I don't want to see him. Ever." Mom finished sweeping the glass up into a dustpan and then dumped it in the garbage.

"Cody, don't you think you're being a little unreasonable?" I wanted to punch her. I really did. I was very near shouting.

"Unreasonable? Unreasonable? That was his son! My twin brother! And he couldn't even bother to show up for the funeral. Now he wants to come in and make everything alright with me? Well, tell him to forget it. I'd rather have no father than a father like that." With that, I spun around, grabbed my backpack, and headed off to school.

***

Sitting in math that Friday, I ticked away the minutes until class let out. At long last, the bell rang. I stuffed papers, pencil, and calculator into my backpack and darted towards the door. Mr. Burns stopped me. "Mr. Martin, if I could speak with you for a moment?" I stopped at the door and turned around. We waited until the rest of the class had filed out. He got up and shut the door then sat back down at his desk. That was a little weird. Taking off his glasses, he polished them with a handkerchief he produced from his pocket.

"Uh, sir? I've got to go to class."

"I'll write you a note." Silence. What was this all about?

"Okay...did I do something wrong?" He sighed and pushed his glasses back on. He stared at me deeply. I had never noticed it before, but he seemed almost ancient. People had always joked that he was old, but up this close, he appeared venerable. His face was grizzled with deep lines, and his eyes ached, as if they had seen far too many years in their time.

"No, it's nothing like that. I just wanted to tell you how very sorry I was to hear about your brother's death." I sighed. Not another one of these. I really didn't have it in me to put up with another one. Almost every one of my teachers had told me the same, nearly rehearsed speech. They'd express remorse and then tell me how I had to go on. "I'm certain you're tired of hearing that it'll hurt less with time." Pause. I nodded. It was true, they all told me that. "Well, it won't. It'll always hurt as much as it does now. That sense of loss doesn't go away." He smiled politely. "Most everyone I've known has died. Some natural, given my age, and some not so natural. I still feel each and every loss as a dull ache inside of me. It's about coping, Cody, not about forgetting."

This was the first time that I felt like someone was speaking honestly with me. Plainly. Not trying to sugarcoat things, but also giving me some real hope. I don't know why, but all of a sudden I felt like I could talk with him. "My dad is coming into town today."

"I'm happy for you."

"I'm not."

"You don't like your father?" I shrugged. "Or you're just indifferent."

"He didn't show up to Zack's funeral." He nodded.

"It can be difficult to accept the loss of one's son. And it can be difficult to accept the failings of our parents. It's important to remember that they're human, Cody, and prone to mistakes."

"I'm not mad that he missed the funeral." He stared at me curiously. "Mr. Burns, can I tell you something kind of personal?" He nodded. "I don't think Zack died..." I was going to let it stay like that, but I decided to amend it when I saw his face fill with pain and pity, "the way they said he did." His expression changed to one of understanding.

"Have you expressed these concerns with anyone else? Parents or friends?" I shook my head. "It might be best to keep them silent. I know it's difficult to accept something like the loss of a loved one, and I can't even imagine what it must be like to lose a twin brother. It can be natural to seek a grander meaning from such an event. Conspiracy, foul play, or their foul ilk. It gives a sense of objective. Something that can be fought against. But life happens, Cody, and you need to just accept that."

"So you think I need to accept my dad?"

"I'm not telling you what to feel, Cody. If you feel hurt or betrayed by him, that's something that the two of you need to work out. But searching for wrongdoing in your brother's death is likely to be fruitless." We sat in silence some more. Finally, he looked at his watch. "I suppose it's time you get to class." He pulled out a pad of paper and quickly wrote an excuse on it. Handing it to me, he smiled. "I hope that wasn't too boring."

"Not at all. Thanks." I turned around and left. Not everyone in my life was crazy, turns out.


	4. Chapter 4

I took a long walk home. I needed time to decompress before dealing with Dad. I looped around my block twice before finally walking up the steps to the hotel. This wasn't going to be fun. I was going to have to lie, and lie a lot. I couldn't let Mom or Dad suspect that I knew anything. I wasn't sure what they'd do to me. I wasn't sure of much anymore. Sometimes, I thought that I might have just been going insane. It did sound crazy, when I tried to examine it objectively. Right about the time my twin dies, or supposedly dies, I start believing that Mom and Dad were in on a vast conspiracy to spirit away Zack in the middle of the night, convince all the doctors he had died, and that it was all because Zack had developed some sort of supernatural powers? I grinned to no one in particular. This was certainly unbelievable. And maybe I was just losing it? That first night, I was positive what I had heard. But it had been six months since then, and the certainty I had was beginning to dwindle. The memory was fading, becoming more distant. It was no longer the clear image in my mind that it had been. I caught myself second-guessing the recollection, trying hard to remember exact wordings, facial expressions, and movements.

"I can't be losing it. Why else would Dad have avoided the funeral if it wasn't because he didn't care?" No one could hear me, as I had stopped at the hotel door. The doorman was busy hailing a cab for another family. I shook my head and answered my own question. "Because it was too painful to experience that? Dad's not exactly the picture-perfect parent." I brought my hands up to my head and held it. Recently, my head had started to hurt slightly. I didn't think much of it – I wasn't eating, and I wasn't sleeping.

"But you're not crazy. You know what you saw." I nodded, ignoring the inherent irony that I was convincing myself I wasn't crazy by talking to myself. So new avenue of thinking. Maybe Dad really did care about me? I just couldn't accept that the last twelve years of my life had been a lie. Baseball games, road trips, late night movies, and bedtime stories all carefully crafted? If he was pretending to love me, wasn't that as good as being loved? He might just be my dad a few times a year, but, to me, he was still Dad. And despite everything, I loved him.

Gathering up my resolve, I made the journey up the stairs, into the hotel, and up to my suite. Opening the door, I dropped my backpack to the floor and noticed right away that Mom and Dad were sitting across from each other at the kitchen table. My entrance had halted any conversation. Dad stood up and smiled widely. Mom stayed in her chair but turned to face me.

"Hey, kiddo," Dad started, "how was your day?" I shrugged and didn't respond. I walked over to the cabinet to get a glass and filled it with water. Looking at him, I realized that, though I did have a deep love for him, he also infuriated me. He took away Zack. My friend. My brother. My twin. No amount of fatherly love could make up for that. I still needed to deny anything I knew, or thought I knew, but making this easy on him wasn't something I had in mind. "Well, how've you been? It's been a while."

I wanted to say "Not long enough," but instead I just said "Yeah." He frowned as he stared at me.

"You don't look so good. Are you sleeping enough?" Breathing deeply, I tried to shut off my emotions. If I let myself, I knew that I was going to be unable to maintain this sort of blind rage at Dad. I'd fall into my old trap of caring too much. I'm too sympathetic. Too sensitive. What I needed right now was teenage-parental conflict. If I let myself love him again, I'd end up spilling it all.

"What do you care?"

"I'm your father. Of course I care."

"Like you cared about Zack?" The conversation froze. Mom bit down on her bottom lip and Dad looked away, as if that was a painful blow. After a few seconds of what I could only guess was supposed to be feeling sorry for himself, Dad looked back at me.

"Look, why don't you and I go get something to eat so we can talk? I owe you that much."

"No thanks." He looked angry, and he raised his voice, a tactic he had never used before.

"That wasn't a request. Now come on." Mom stared on sadly as Dad walked over towards me and forcefully pushed me towards the door. I shook his arm off and walked.

***

Sitting across from him at a pizza place downtown, I stared straight up and into his eyes, as if for the first time, while we waited on our food to arrive. Dad tried to smile again, but my face didn't change from the stone-hard glare I was giving him. I figured I'd be expected to be angry, and this let me get off some real resentment too. Or I was just going insane. So no matter what, I was covered; crazy people shouldn't be expected to have rational responses.

"Look, I know you're angry with me."

"I'm not angry." Dad rolled his eyes at that.

"Upset? Peeved? Annoyed? Cody, I'm trying here. I'm really trying to make it up to you. But you've got to help me out a little bit." I shrugged to that but decided that I'd at least hear what he had to say. He threw up his hands. "What is it that you want?"

I didn't really know what to say to that. What did I want? The truth, obviously, but that wasn't something I could very easily ask for. I dropped my head into my hands. There was so much confusion still. He was waiting expectantly. I had to give him something. "Why didn't you come to the funeral?"

He breathed in deeply. It was what he expected. "Cody, I love you, and I loved your brother. I still do. But, you've got to understand, I'm not perfect." He gave a fake laugh. "Not even close. Maybe if I was, things would be better, and I hope to God I can make it that way for you. When I found out about Zack, though, I panicked. I should've been here." Cue sudden emotional response. His eyes filled with tears and he aimlessly played with his fingers. "I couldn't. I just couldn't do it. The idea of seeing Zack like that. Seeing him get lowered into the ground." Time for anger to make it believable. He pounded a fist on the table. The other patrons looked over. "Cody, no father should ever have to bury his son. I wanted to be here for you and Mom." He shook his head, hopelessly defeated. All in all, a compelling act. "It was too much for me. I wish I were a better man, a better father. I want to make things right now though. Before it's too late."

I didn't know what to say. On the surface, it was a believable story. I had already come to similar conclusions; Dad wasn't exactly known as being reliable or mature about things. He hadn't ever grown up. I couldn't challenge the merits of what he had to say. But I couldn't be bought in either. What did he call it? Being compromised? Well, if I was compromised, and gave him a tearful hug and told him I was sorry, I'd end up telling him everything. In the back of my mind, I knew that this was the worst thing I could do. Gathering back the image of Zack in the hospital bed, I used it to fuel my rage. This was the man responsible for my brother's pain. This was the man responsible for taking him away from me.

"So what now? You take me out for pizza and everything's supposed to be better? It makes up for what you did. Or didn't do? We needed you. I," I shook my head. The tears in my eyes were real. "What do you want?" I asked his question back at him, emphasizing the "you".

"I just want you to know that I love you, and I'll always be here if you need me." Food arrived. We stopped talking. He ate. I began cutting the pizza with a knife, playing with the food and dragging it through marinara sauce. My appetite had long since left me. "Are you going to eat that or play with it?"

"What's it matter?"

"You don't look well. What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Cody, come on, talk to me. How's your head feel? Been getting headaches lately?" I dropped my fork. So that's what this was about. He wanted to find out if I was going to "manifest," whatever that meant. He wanted to know if I was like Zack. I should have known he hadn't come because of some sort of deep-seeded fatherly affection. I hated him so much. Staring back at him, I got up from the table.

"I hate you, and I don't ever want to see you again." While he was still stunned from my outburst, I quickly headed out of the restaurant and ran.

***

It didn't take five minutes for me to begin second-guessing myself again. How sure could I be that his question about headaches was anything out of the ordinary? Was I, once more, reading too much into my brother's death? Mr. Burns said that it was common to look for a bigger meaning behind events. Maybe, I thought, my brother's disappearance really was just a death. Maybe I had invented that conversation as a coping mechanism. That was ridiculous, of course, but it's what people would say. Thunder clapped overhead.

"Great, just what I need to finish off a perfect day. Rain." I was a good half-hour walk away from the hotel. Jamming my hands into my pocket, I tried to ignore the pounding in my cranium and the light sprinkle that was the precursor to what was obviously going to be torrential downpour. The pain was mounting, my exhaustion was growing, and, truthfully, I was scared of storms.

Dropping myself down on the steps of an apartment building, I buried my head in my hands, trying to block out all external stimuli that were magnified a thousand fold because of my headache while the rain began to let loose. In seconds, I was drenched to my bones. Clothing was sopping wet. Socks were uncomfortably saturated. Underwear started to chafe with the wetness. I could hardly hear the yell over the storm.

"Kid, hey kid! Do you need a ride?" I looked up. Pulled over on a curb was a white station wagon. Inside was a young woman and a boy about my age. The boy had streaks of brown peaking through his obviously dyed blond hair. The girl had naturally straight brown hair that sat at roughly shoulder level. She yelled again. "Come on, get in." She motioned for me to come.

I jumped up and ran towards the car. Normally, I wouldn't get in a car with strangers, but normally I wasn't weighing abduction with catching pneumonia. Besides, I had just as good a chance of getting abducted at home. I opened the door and hopped into the back seat, clothing slushing uncomfortably as I sat down, dampening the seat. "Sorry, and thanks for this."

"Don't worry about it. My name's Sarah, by the way, and this is my little brother, Evan," she ruffled his hair, causing him to twist out of her reach before she gave him a one armed hug. Turning around, he stared at me.

"I'm Cody. And sorry about your seat."

"I said not to worry about it. This has seen worse." Glancing over into a rear-view mirror, she pulled back out on to the street. "So where do you live?"

"Huh?" I was confused. Why did they want to know where I live. The boy, Evan, giggled.

"She wants to know where you live so she can take you home." He rolled his eyes. Oh. I guess it was kind of obvious. He laughed as my face turned to one of understanding. Sarah reached over and playfully pushed Evan back to a sitting position.

"Be nice. But," she turned back towards me, "seriously, where do you live? I can't let you out anywhere else. It's way too dangerous out there right now."

"Uh, the Tipton Hotel." I shivered. She turned the heater on.

"Fancy that. Just where we were going."

Evan turned back around to look at me. "So what were you doing out there in the middle of the rainstorm?"

"It wasn't raining when I got out there."

"Yeah, but you were just sitting." I shrugged. "What, do you normally just sit down in the street when it's storming?"

"I got in a fight. I was walking home and wanted to take a second to breathe."

"A fight with who?" At this, Sarah glared down at her brother.

"Evan!"

"What, I was just asking? Sheesh." He looked back at me. "So what grade are you in?"

"Seventh."

He smiled. "Hey, me too. Sarah and I just moved to Boston. We're staying at the hotel till we can find somewhere to live."

"Evan, I think you've asked enough questions. Sit and settle, kid." Once again, he rolled his eyes and sat back down in the seat facing frontways. He quickly turned up the heat and smiled contently. Even as wet and cold as I was, this was a little hot for me.

Soon, we were parked outside of the Tipton and staring at its front door through the wet onslaught.

"I guess we have to run," Evan said, voicing my thoughts. "Fun." Not so much voicing my thoughts.

"Alright, on three." Sarah began counting. "One, three." Quickly, she pushed her door open and ran. Shrugging, Evan followed her, and I quickly followed suit, feet pounding against the wet pavement as I got a fresh coat of rain to saturate my clothing. Pushing open the door, we sighed in relief. Neither of them were nearly as wet as I was, but they still both looked like they had just walked half a mile in the rain.

"Well, I need to get upstairs. Thanks for the ride." Sarah smiled and welcomed me as I walked off.

"See ya 'round!" Evan cried.

***

I quietly turned the nob of the door and peeked inside. Mom was sitting on the couch in her pajamas, a cup of coffee in one hand and the television turned to the weather channel. As the door opened, her head rapidly spun in my direction.

"Cody, where on Earth have you been? It's pouring! Your Dad called and said you ran away. Oh my Lord, you're soaked! Get in here." I hurried inside and closed the door. Mom walked over to me, furious. "What were you thinking? Why would you run away like that? And in the middle of a storm? I've been scared to death, thinking about what could have happened!"

"It wasn't raining when I left."

"What did you run away for?"

I turned my head away from her. I still had mixed feelings with Mom. On the one hand, she at the very least knew things she wasn't telling me. On the other, I did love her, even more than my mixed-love with Dad. And she said she loved me. "I just...I was angry."

"Angry? You're father's been driving all over the city looking for you!"

"Look, I said I was sorry! I just didn't want to be around him anymore. I hate him."

"He's your father."

"I don't care, I fucking hate him."

"Don't you ever use language like that again."

"I'll say whatever the hell I want!" I felt the hot sting of five fingers slap themselves across my cheek. I stared up at Mom with blood boiling, stammering to keep in control. She held her hand, as if incapable of comprehending what she had just done.

"Cody, I 'm sorry," she started. I turn and ran towards my room, jumping on to my bed. "Cody," I could hear her as she approached. Glaring, the door slammed itself shut and I could hear the lock push into place. The weird thing, though, is that I never got up off my bed to shut it.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Took a break over the holiday. Sorry about the gap. Here's the next installment. The previous chapters have been pretty slow moving, plot wise, but it's going to start picking up more. Hope you enjoy it.**

My breathing was coming in rapid gasps, laying on my bed, staring at the door that had appeared to just close itself. My headache had subsided since then, no longer pounding inside my skull. In fact, the release seemed to come at just about the time the door closed. "But I did that," I muttered softly, so that even someone, ear pressed closely up to the door couldn't hear. Which, in fact, appeared to be the case, as I could hear Mom rapping against the door and calling my name.

"Cody. Cody, sweety, come on out. Talk to me." Did she know anything? Had she seen me do that? Maybe, I guess if she had been close enough, she could've seen the door shut. And she should've been able to realize I wasn't close enough to shut it. But only maybe. And how do I deal with that possibility. The logic in me said to assume the worst. Rolling over, I grabbed Blankie and held him close to my chest, pressing my face deep inside of him. Warm, fabricy comfort washed over me. The sort of comfort and protection I had known when I was very small. It was like Mom's embrace after I had gotten hurt, or Zack's protective arm, shielding me after a nightmare. A constant reminder of safety.

"I'm not safe though, Blankie. None of us are anymore." I couldn't hear Mom anymore. I don't know if that meant she had left or not. The storm was raging worse than ever outside. That pragmatist in me kept saying to leave now, but the sensitive part in me, that personality difference that made me so very different than Zack, wanted me to stay and trust in my parents' supposed unconditional love. Closing my eyes, I fell off to a restless slumber.

***

My eyes flew open at the sound of another bolt of lightning. I looked over at the clock. I had been asleep for just under an hour. I rolled off the bed and stood up. The ache in my head was back, and in full force. I crept towards the door, unlocked it, and opened up. All the lights were on, but Mom wasn't anywhere to be found. I walked out and started looking for some sign of where she was. I didn't think she had a show tonight. Maddie would've been here, or Muriel, or one of the other many babysitters she hired for us. For just me now.

The only thing I could find was the message pad next to the phone, where we were supposed to write down messages for Mom when she wasn't home. The pen had bled through, leaving residual markings from the last message, even though it had been torn out. It appeared to be Dad's hotel information. I shrugged. Maybe she just went to see him? If he was looking for me, that would make sense.

I didn't see any reason to stay in the suite, so I opened up the door and walked out. I'd wander a bit and then go back. Everything would be okay.

***

I was wandering the halls, the heavy storm having parted and given way to a light sprinkle outside, making the dark, empty halls seem like something out of a horror movie. What floor was I on? Fifteenth? Eleventh? Didn't matter much. I was reliving the door slamming in my head over and over again. I was fairly confident now that I had done that, but I needed to test and make sure. I wanted somewhere safe to do it too. The lobby was out. The suite wasn't safe. So what was left? A janitor's closet? With my luck, I'd run into Arwin.

I sighed, reached the end of the hallway, and took a sharp right, still lost in my thoughts. It wasn't until I felt the bodily mass collide with me, skulls knocking into each other as we tumbled to the floor. I yelped and felt whatever I had fallen over pushing at me.

"Oof, ger'off me," it cried from underneath me. I rolled over and sat up. I realized it was that kid from earlier. Evan. "Ugh, look where you're going, dude! You almost squashed me." I nervously looked the hallway up and down, fearful that someone had heard our racket. If they had, there was no sign.

"Sorry, I was just walking." Even if there were no visible signs of people, I still lowered my voice all the same. Evan, however, seemed to not notice.

"Hey, you're that Cody kid, right? The one who looked like a drowned rat?" He grinned. "What're you doing out so late?"

I shrugged. "Just wanted to take a walk."

"That's cool. I was just out exploring. Funny kind of hotel, isn't it? I forgot that you were staying here too."

"Yeah, well, I'll let you get back to exploring. Might want to be careful though. Mr. Moseby, erm, he's the manager or whatever, he doesn't really like it when kids go exploring." I stood up and got ready to walk back up to my room.

He jumped up and grabbed my arm. "Hey, you've been here a while, right? Why don't you come with me?"

"I really need to get back before my mom finds out I'm gone."

"Ah, come on, what's the worst that could happen. I snuck out without Sarah realizing it." I thought for a minute. It would help me get my mind off stuff. Plus, it'd be making a friend, something I hadn't done since Zack left.

"Alright, but just for a little while."

"Awesome! So, where are we going to go?" Hm, that was a good question. Where would we go? The whole hotel was locked up. Zack and I had had enough midnight adventures to know that. Which gave me an idea.

"We'll need to get to the janitor's closet first. He has keys to everything around here."

"Cool. Lead the way." We started creeping off towards the first floor where Arwin's closet was. I hoped he wasn't in tonight. Best I could tell, he seemed to actually spent a lot of nights at the hotel, although I knew he also lived with his mom. Evan talked the whole way down.

"Sarah's my sister, obviously, but she also takes care of me. Ever since my parents died. But it's no biggy – I don't remember them much anyways. But yeah, so Sarah's my legal guardian, which is pretty cool, but she's also super strict."

"How old is she?" I decided to throw it in there to make it look like I was really listening. Geeze, could this kid talk.

"Twenty-six. So, yeah, big age difference. We came to Boston for work or something. I don't really know what she does. I don't normally pay attention to stuff like that. Say, do you have any siblings?"

"A twin brother."

"Really? Where is he?"

"He, um, died. A few months back."

"Oh, sorry," he said it dismissively, as if only just realizing that it was something he was supposed to say without actually meaning it. "But hey, now you're an only child! Jackpot Christmas and birthdays, huh?" He laughed. I didn't really know what to say. That was beyond morbid. I just ignored it. "So what about your parents? How long are you guys staying at this hotel?"

"We, uh, live here. My mom's a singer, and she divorced my dad." We arrived at the first floor. "Anyway, here we are. Follow me." We got to the janitor's closet. I put my hand cautiously around the handle and tried to turn it. It was locked.

"Haha, no big deal!" Digging in his pockets, he produced some long metal rods with bent ends.

"What are those?"

"Just watch and learn." He bent down at the lock started messing with the lock. I nervously looked around. If even one night employee walked through here, we'd be in a lot of trouble. I had a feeling I knew what he was doing. I finally heard the infamous click and his cry of success. "Yes! Alright, we're in. Lead the way." He pocketed his devices and opened the door, gesturing for me to enter first.

I stepped inside. No Arwin. We lucked out. I started sifting through his stuff, looking for the keys. Evan started looking at Arwin's inventions. Oh yeah, Arwin is an inventor, sort of. He tried to invent stuff, anyway, even if most of them end up comically hurting him. It kind of worried me, because I knew one day Arwin could easily hurt himself one day. Still, they were all pretty cool. I found the keys.

"Evan, I've got them." I turned around to look at him and almost cried out in terror. Evan was climbing one of the shelves to get at a long, vacuum like device with lots of lights on it that sat on the top shelf. "Get down!" It was Arwin's ghost hunting device.

The shelf started to shake as he reached up for the device. As it began to fall, Evan jumped off. Too late. Inventions began to rain down, surely to clatter all over the floor and awaken the whole hotel, not to mention smash us. Instinctively, I raised my hands. I felt something pressing in the back of my mind. Closing my eyes, I "reached" for it. With the sensational rush of adrenaline, I felt my forehead start to tingle and slowly opened my eyes.

Evan was on the ground still, arms raised protectively over himself, but he was staring at the many devices that seemed to be suspended in the air. He looked over at me, arms raised.

"Woah, Cody, are you the one doing this?"

It was the strangest feeling of my life. I could feel myself holding each object. It was different than holding them with my hands, yet all the same. I could feel each object in my head, being held in my mind, like an extension of my limbs. Sweat began to pour down my forehead.

"Can you...please...move!" My voice was strained. It was like I was holding up the whole hotel on my shoulders. Evan rolled out of the way. Gently, I moved the objects towards the floor, setting them down with a soft clatter. I slumped over as the last object was safely back down. I closed my eyes, intending to rest for a little bit. Maybe just drift off to sleep. I felt a hand slap against my cheek rapidly though.

"Cody, wake up, Cody!" My eyes snapped open and I batted away Evan's hand.

"What? I'm up!"

"Dude, I didn't know you could do that! This is so cool!" That was an odd reaction. Pure awe and amazement. No disbelief.

"I didn't either. Not until tonight." He was grinning madly.

"That was so cool. How much can you do? Can you pick up a whole car? There's so much you can do with a power like that. Haha, dude, imagine what we could get into!" I shook my head and sat there in silence. So I was like Zack, and now somebody else knew. I had to make sure Evan understood the severity of the situation.

"Evan, listen to me. Evan." He sobered a little. "Look, what you just saw...you can't tell anyone about it, alright?" He waved my comment off.

"Of course. It's not like I want to go back either." He looked as if I was telling him it was important to breathe or something.

"Wait, what? Go back where?" I had no idea what he was talking about, and my face showed it.

"Dude, I'm like you." I shook my head. I still was confused. He brought his hand up, palm upward, and flicked his middle finger against his thumb. With a spark and the sound of ignition, a small ball of flame sat in his hand. He grinned. "Pyrokinetics, man. I've only been able to do it for a few years, but I can do some pretty neat stuff with it. But I didn't know you could either. Man, this is so awesome. I haven't known anyone else like us since Meade. 'Cept Sarah, of course, but that's -"

"Quite enough." Standing in the doorway was Sarah, dressed only in a nightgown, and looking furious. "Evan, what the hell do you think you're doing." She walked over and grabbed his ear, pulling him away from me. "And what did you do to this boy?" She looked down at me. "Are you alright? What did Evan do? I promise it was just a trick. He does this a lot."

"Ow, Sarah, it's okay! Cody just manifested. He's a telekinetic. You can let me go!" She let go of him and walked over towards me. Evan rubbed at his ear. "Geeze, you'd think I did something horrible."

She reached down and helped me to my feet. "Is that true? Oh Cody, are you alright? Manifesting can be a horrible experience." I nodded and just stood up. I didn't feel much like talking. "It's okay. You'll feel better in a minute."

I walked towards the door, Evan still smiling like this was all some sort of game. Sarah's experssion changed quickly. She closed her eyes and brought a hand up towards her face and gasped. I looked at Evan, worried that something bad was happening, but he just watched on like it was nothing.

"What do you see, Sis?" He asked like this was a completely normal experience. Maybe it was. After tonight, I didn't think I had much to say on the subject of normal.

"We need to leave. Now."

We got up and walked out the janitor's closet and into the lobby. Standing there were my mom, dad, a man in a suit I had never seen before, and a blond boy with very short hair. Short hair we hadn't worn since we were much younger. Standing there, next to my mom and dad and some man I had never seen before was my brother. Zack.


	6. Chapter 6

Zack. The man in the suit walked towards us. Sarah walked forward and pushed Evan back to me. Zack. Dad kept one hand on Zack's shoulder and moved another down towards his waist. The other man pulled his suit coat back and grabbed something at his waist. It looked like a gun. Mom was watching with tears in her eyes and a hand over her mouth. But none of that mattered, because I was looking straight into my brother's eyes. He didn't seem to notice me, or, if he did, he didn't seem to care much. He just stood next to Dad, standing blankly ahead. I wasn't crazy. I hadn't misheard. My brother was alive.

"Zack?" His eyes twitched towards me, but that was all. The man with the suit had the gun out by his side but stopped advancing on us once Sarah put herself out in front. He looked back at Dad. Dad shook his head. "Dad, what's going on? What are you doing with Zack?"

"Cody, I need you to trust me. Now just come over here, and I'll explain everything to you. These people," he motioned at Evan and Sarah, "are very dangerous."

I stepped forward. "Don't listen to him! He's trying to trick you." At Sarah's words, I stopped again. On the one hand, here was my Mom and Dad and brother, all on one side, asking me to come to them. Well, it was my brother who was acting like a robot, my Dad who had lied to me about everything, and my Mom who looked like she was about to break down in tears teamed up with a guy in a suit who had a gun pulled out. But hey, at least I knew them. Better the devil you know...

I took another step. "Dad, who are all of these people?"

He nodded as I stepped, reaching a hand out, beckoning me closer. Sarah eyed the suit. "Don't worry about that, Codester. Just come over here with your family, and everything'll be alright. I promise."

"Cody, he's lying. He isn't your father. He just wants -" Sarah started in, nearly hysterical.

"Zack, shut her up!" Dad interrupted her tirade with a shout. With a flick of his eyes, Zack looked over at her. She grabbed at her head and fell to the ground screaming. Evan shouted some obscenity before flicking his wrist, causing a jet of flame to form itself around his hand.

"Let us go!" He pointed his hand over at Dad and Zack. The other man leveled the gun at Evan. Glancing over, Zack stared at him. In a second, the flame dissipated, and Evan too cried out and clutched at his head, falling prone to the ground. They both continued to moan in pain. I took a step back.

"Cody, please, it's important." Dad walked towards me, hand outstretched.

Midstep, he stopped walking, and the whole room seemed to black out.

***

I was aware. And because of my awareness, I knew I hadn't blacked out. I could think, but I couldn't see, hear, or feel anything. It wasn't cold, exactly, but there was a sort of cold-like quality to the way I couldn't feel any warmth. I tried to shout, but it was like my mouth wasn't there. Whatever I was, I existed apart from my body.

_Not exactly._

But that wasn't me. It wasn't a voice. It was just a thought that crossed my mind. An intrusive thought that lazily found its way into my head. Not in words, exactly, but more of in feeling. In meaning. And it wasn't mine. I wanted to cry out, but I couldn't. And I was scared.

_Calm down, Cody. Give me a second._

The thoughts were hardly reassuring, but I did try to calm myself somewhat. Being nothingness, though, was far from comforting.

_You're not nothingness. In fact, I'd say you're the opposite._

Blinding white. But then it dimmed to a dull gray. Standing in front of me was my brother. Zack. He looked identical to how he did right before he was taken. He smiled at me, but the smile was strange. Almost like it was out of place. He nodded.

"It is."

"It is what?"

"Sorry, I hadn't realized. You were just thinking. It's sometimes hard to differentiate."

So he didn't even need to wait for me to speak. Was nothing private for me?

"Do you want me to answer that?"

I shook my head. "No. But what happened. Where are we?"

Zack took a few moments to answer. His sentences were calm, clear, and crisp, but completely without emotion. This was a departure from the brother I once knew. "I'm in your head. Or, more accurately, we're in each other's heads. This is sort of a bridge, a meeting ground between our minds. Dad was preparing to incapacitate you and take you with us. Your two friends were trapped within their own minds."

"Did you hurt them?"

"Yes and no. I made them believe they were being hurt. Effectively, there is no difference."

"What are we - "

"Well, you see, I temporarily," he frowned. "I'm sorry. I'll try to let you finish your sentences from now on. Still, it's faster if I do it for you here. And time is an issue." When I nodded, he continued. "You were going to ask what we're doing here, and the answer is that I've temporarily...paused, I suppose is the best phrase for it, everyone in the room. I've blanked their minds, preventing them from realizing the passage of time. I wanted to talk with you first."

"Talk about what?"

"I was sifting through your thoughts back there."

"When we were in the lobby?"

"Cody, we're still in the lobby." My face flushed. Having Zack explain everything like this to me was humiliating.

"Sorry. I know it can't have been easy for you." And even now, he knew my private shame. I was even more ashamed of myself for letting Zack know how I felt. Ashamed that I somehow thought it beneath me to have to learn from Zack. "Don't. You can't help how you feel."

I couldn't stand to look him in the eye. "Look, Zack, just talk, okay? This is beyond weird, and I can't stop to think without having to worry about what you're hearing. You said time was important, so let's just get to it."

He nodded. "I wanted you to know that I'm okay. I saw how worried you had been." We stared into each other's eyes. Despite all that separated us, we were twins, and more could pass between us than just words. I wanted to tell him just how very much I loved him and cared for him, and I knew that he felt the exact same way about me. There was just nothing to say. He continued. "I also wanted you to know that you can't trust Dad. Or Mom, really. She's the one who betrayed you tonight. She didn't know what would happen, but she called Dad when she realized you had powers." He smiled. "I'm happy for you, Cody."

I grinned. "I guess this makes us kind of like superheroes, huh?"

He laughed. "Almost. Just like those games we used to play."

"So what happens now?"

"You're going to leave." My smile vanished and was replaced with an incredulous frown. Leave? I had just gotten my brother back! "Cody, listen to me. What's happening and what's going to happen is beyond horrible. I can't let them do it to you too. I've got to protect my baby brother, and this is the only way I know how."

"Zack, you don't have to protect me. I can make decisions for myself."

"Not about this. I won't let him take you. The work we're doing is important, but I couldn't live with myself if I forced you to join." He sighed and closed his eyes. "I can't hold them much longer. Listen to me, Cody, when things go back to normal, I'm going to fall to the ground and make it look like you stopped me. You're going to need to disarm Dad right away. He's by far the most dangerous. Go with Sarah and Evan."

"Can I trust them?"

"More than you can trust Dad." He shook his head. "They're not bad people. None of them are – not even Dad. But you need to remember, Cody, everyone's got their own agenda."

"Zack, what is it that's going on?" He shook his head again.

"It's about over, Cody. Remember: disarm Dad."

"Zack!"

***

My eyes flew open. Dad was still advancing on me, hand at his waistcoat, gun visible. Zack cried out and jumped backwards. Dad stopped and looked behind himself. So did the man in the suit. I raised my hand and pulled with the back of my mind at the gun. It flew from the holster into my hand. Dad froze. The man in the suit suddenly cried out in pain as Sarah kicked him in the stomach. She took the time to get up. Dad cast one glance at me before turning towards her. I reached into the back of my mind and shoved as hard as I could against Dad, sending him toppling to the ground.

Sarah punched out at him catching him once in the face before he grabbed her arm, twisting it, forcing her to cry in pain. Bringing his other hand up, he whipped her in the face with the barrel of his sidearm. She collapsed to the ground. That's when I heard it. The sound of something burning. Everyone had forgotten Evan.

Grinning, he had a ball of flame on each hand and looked over at the man in the suit. The man raised his gun towards Evan, but he was too slow. "Get away from my sister." Leveling one hand at him, the flame dove from his outstretched palm towards the man's arm, engulfing it in flame. He shrieked. The smell of burning flesh filled my nostrils, and I fell to my knees and gagged. Skin parted as the flames licked their way up his flesh. He beat at it uselessly, flailing around, which only served to spread the fire around the lobby.

Evan launched another volley, hitting the man square in the chest, dropping him to the ground. I watched as his eyes were burnt out of his skull. His screams were finally gone when there was no more skin on his throat. But Evan wasn't done. Not by a long shot. Turning towards the others, Evan flicked his wrist again, sending another blast of flame towards my Dad and brother. Zack rolled out of the way. I didn't see what happened to my Dad. Evan turned towards the elevator and sent a ball of fire towards it, exploding into the machine, filling the inner chamber with fire.

"Burn, baby, burn!" He cried, blasting away the candy counter and then moving on towards the stairwell. He laughed, a horrible, sadistic laugh as he sent arcs of fire all around the lobby, setting the whole room ablaze. And it wasn't stopping here either. I could see the fire dancing its way up the stairwell.

"Evan, you've got to stop it, you're going to bring the whole hotel down!" Sarah was yelling at him from her position on the floor, slowly trying to get up, all the while coughing on the high level of smoke that was quickly filling the room. I could hardly see anything anymore. My eyes stung with the burning heat of flames. I felt the now very warm metal handle of the gun I had taken from Dad. "Evan, please, we've got to go! Get a grip!" He didn't seem to notice the frantic screaming in his fiery attack.

"Try to take us down! We're better! We're above! You can't stop us! You can't ever take me - " His words were silenced as I took the gun by the barrel and brought the butt down into the back of his head, crumpling to the floor. The fire raged onwards.

Sarah got to him and lifted him up. I was coughing horribly. So was she. I could hear movement, scrambling towards the door. Yelling. I couldn't see much through the smoke and fire. The exit was blocked by the flames. "We've got to find a way out!" Sarah was holding Evan's body, but unsteadily. He wasn't a huge kid, but he wasn't small either.

I looked around. Ten feet away, a chandelier dropped with a noisy smash to the floor. The fire alarm system was going off. Sprinklers were raining down on us, completely incapable of halting the fire's assault. I looked towards the stairs. Nobody was ever going to get out of those. I could feel Sarah grab my shoulder. I stole my gaze away from the stairs, preventing my mind from imagining the death that would await almost everyone here. I could still hear the man's screams as fire engulfed his arm.

"Cody, this place is going to collapse and kill us if the fire doesn't. We have to get out of here."

"But how?" I looked at Evan. He was out cold. It occurred to me that a blow like that could kill him. With hundreds, possibly even over a thousand, caught in this burning tomb, I wasn't so sure I minded that idea. Then I felt sick for even thinking that.

We looked around. "This way," I cried, and she followed me. We got to the door of the lounge. I reached for the nob and then screamed and pulled my hand back. It was scorching hot. My hand was red from the heat.

"What are you using your hand for?" I nodded while nursing my burnt hand. Looking at the door, I once again pushed at it with a thought, causing the double doors to burst open, breaking one off its hinges and damaging the other. "Come on," she pulled at me as we ran into the lounge. The fire hadn't spread this far yet. But it wasn't exactly the lounge that I had wanted. It was that the lounge had windows. Windows seven feet off the ground, but they were windows.

Sarah looked up and nodded, realizing what I wanted. "But how do we get up there?" I looked around. Tables. Chairs. We could probably stack some up. I said that. She agreed. She set down Evan, and we got to work, stacking up two tables on a far wall near a window. In the distance, I could hear faint screams. That chilled me to the bone. I nearly dropped the table we were lifting.

"Cody, don't think. Just do. We've got to get out of here." I became purely mechanical, trying not to think of the death that they had been condemned to. All because of us. "The firemen will get them to safety," she promised me. But how many? Surely, they couldn't put the fire out that soon.

Climbing up unsteadily on our ladder of tables, I threw the gun through the window, shattering it. I could feel the cold night air, cool and inviting on my red, sweat streaked face. I pushed my feet through first, shoes crunching the remaining glass. I brought a hand unsteadily up and held on to a side, biting down and almost screaming as glass cut through my hand.

"Just jump!" She cried from beneath. I tried not to look at the hedges that came flying up towards me, cushioning my fall as I fell to the Earth. The bushes were pricked and dug deep into my skin. The sheer force of the fall knocked my breath away and bruised me all up and down. I rolled off, barely aware. With a thud, I saw Evan fall out, pushed by his sister. A few seconds later, she had jumped and landed right next to him. It only took a bit longer for her to recover enough to get down.

"Cody, we've got to move."

But where?


	7. Chapter 7

**AN:** **I've decided to update this story weekly from now on. I'll continue to work on it throughout the week, and then, once a week (I'm going to say "Saturday", but that could also mean early Sunday morning [as in 1-4 AM CST]) update it with everything I have done up to that point. The reason for the decision is to give a more definitive date on when the story will be published and updated, as well as allowing for me to have more ample time to work through reviews and include them. And on that note, feel free to add in any criticism possible. I won't take it personally, and will actually enjoy the opportunity to utilize reviews in refining my writing. However, that is not to say that I want anyone to feel an obligation to have a thorough review. Other than that, thanks for the speedy replies, kind words, and group of dedicated readers. Enjoy.**

"Cody," she repeated, "we've got to get going! There are going to be people here any minute!" Sarah nervously glanced up and down the street. Sirens could be heard making their way to the inflamed building. There was no sight of Mom, Dad, or Zack. I had just gotten my brother back. Had this insane kid burnt him alive? And my parents? I looked down at Evan. He was starting to come to. With a groan, he brought a hand up and rubbed his forehead, his eyes fluttering. Sarah bent down to check on him.

"Evan, are you alright?" He started to push himself up, and she put an arm behind his back, helping him into a sitting position. He nodded slowly and rubbed back at his head. "How do you feel?"

"Ugh, my head hurts." He rubbed again. I glared down at him. I wanted to do nothing more than jump at him right now. Beat him senseless, into an inch of his life. Throw him back into that fire. Make him feel like I did. He might've killed my parents. My brother. All because he was insane! "What happened? All I remember is toasting those guys and then everything went black."

Sarah looked up at me awkwardly, clearly unsure of what to do. Evan followed her gaze. I barely contained my yelling through gritted teeth. "You...are an idiot!"

"What?" He started to stand up.

"Cody, please." Sarah begged.

"You could have killed us! You probably killed them!" He stood up.

"Hey, in case you hadn't noticed, they were getting ready to take us all out. I was busy saving our lives."

"Those were my parents!" I grabbed him by the front of his shirt. He pushed off.

"Lemme go! I was just protecting myself. I don't give a damn who they were." I felt Sarah's hand grab my shoulder. She grabbed Evan too and forced us to stay at an arms length.

"Look, kids, we've got to get moving. All of us."

"I'm not going anywhere with him!" I shouted, not caring about the number of people within earshot. All that mattered was making this psychopath pay.

"Fine by me. Come on, Sarah, we got along fine before we got to Boston. We don't need this kid. Besides, he's a liability. Compromised. He's related to the enemy."

"Enemy? My mom wasn't the enemy! My brother saved our lives."

"Like hell he did. If I hadn't turned him to a crisp, we'd all be dead right now because your brother took us out with a thought." I growled and took a swing at him, still out of reach. In a second, Evan's hand was engulfed in fire. Forming his hand into a fist, he smiled that so very dangerous smile that seemed to beg me to try again. "Do that again and you'll go out the same way," he promised. I was about to respond in kind before I heard the sirens of nearby emergency vehicles and the parking of cars. Men slammed doors shut and ran out. Sarah, Evan, and I darted towards the bushes along the side of the building, making sure to stay as pulled back into the shadows as possible. Voices sounded.

"Who's in charge here?" Peeking around, I saw Dad, clothes burnt, face red, but very much alive was addressing the large group of firemen who were setting up hoses, getting ladders ready, and were preparing for an overall assault on the flaming building. Screams could be heard inside from residents and seen in the building. Police had already blocked off the street, directing traffic away from the Tipton. Several ambulances were parked nearby, ready to take all those rescued to safety. It wouldn't be enough, though. If the fire couldn't be put out, there weren't enough doctors in the city to save the people trapped inside.

A single fireman broke away from the rest of the group and walked over towards Dad. "Captain Arnold here. Who're you?"

Dad pulled out his wallet and showed it to him. "Federal agent. I was staying here at the hotel." The man nodded.

"You're the guy with the kid, right? The one they just loaded up in the ambulance? He looked like he got burnt pretty good, but I 'spect he'll be alright. Do you know how it started?"

Dad shook his head. "Can't say that I do. I was just down in the lobby when it happened. Lucky, I guess. There were a few more kids who were in there, but we got separated. If you see them, I'd like you to let me know." Dad handed him a card. "That's my number. It's really important that I get those kids."

"Will do," the man looked out at the card, "Mr. Martin. If that's everything, though, I've got work to do." The man walked back towards the group that was already well into hosing down the building and preparing to storm the fiery walls of the hotel. Dad walked out of sight but towards the parking garage of the hotel.

Sarah nodded and motioned for us to move, but moved a finger up towards her mouth, indicating that we should all be quiet. Once we got a safe distance away, she eyed us both carefully and spoke. "Look, guys, we'll settle this little fight later. For now, agree to not kill each other, because we've got to move. There are people coming here after us, and we just saw that this was only the beginning." She looked at me. "Cody, I know you think that man is your father, but you've got to trust me on this, he's far more dangerous than you realize. I'm going to try and take us somewhere safe."

"Where?" Evan and I asked in unison, but then stared at each other with mutual hatred.

"Somewhere to get answers. Now, I need you both to promise to play nicely." I nodded, but Evan didn't seem quite as keen.

"Why are we hooking up with him?" He pointed at me, talking as if I weren't there. I wanted to hit him.

"Cody needs our protection, and we're going to need him. Evan, we've got to stick together." He nodded his consent, and we took off.

***

"Where are we going anyway?" Evan asked, voicing my thoughts. We had been running for a good twenty minutes, dodging our way through back alleys and cutting across buildings and parks. It was just now that I was realizing how utterly exhausted I was. Adrenaline was fading, and I was left with nothing but the cold, terrifying fear that was the memory of this night. Only hours ago I was with Dad at that pizza place, trying to decide if I should let him back into my life. Now here I was, running away in the dead of night from an arson and possibly several-time-over homicide.

Sarah slowed down to a trot and then stopped altogether. We both followed suit. Since we were so much smaller, we had to pump our legs twice as fast to keep up, and, after all that we had been through, this was pretty draining. I don't think I could have gotten up to a full speed run again if I had tried. As it was, I was gasping for every ounce of breath my lungs would take in. Sweat covered my face and dripped into my eyes, mouth, and nose. My shirt, damp with my own perspiration, clung uncomfortably to me. Evan looked just as badly off as I was, and Sarah didn't seem much better. I looked up at her expectantly. Whatever my doubts about these two being dangerous, Zack had told me to go with them, and I didn't have much of a better plan anyway. Besides, I was alone and scared now. I needed to have someone to take care of me. Evan might be crazy, but his sister seemed better.

She shook her head. "We need to get out of the city. To Foxborough." Her sentences were short and broken with her rapid breathing. It was clear we wouldn't be making it that far out of the city on foot. Foxborough was a suburb of Boston, just about twenty miles south and west of the city. It wasn't really that far, but going by foot would be a workout, especially in our condition. I didn't really think we'd be able to make it.

I took a deep breath to steady myself. "There's...no way we're running there."

Evan glared at me, looking like he wanted to challenge it. Fine. Try it. Be my guest to run twenty some odd miles without any sense of direction. I wanted him to just so I could throw his stupid idea back in his face. He shrugged. "Probably not. How are we getting there then?"

It was late and dark. Nearby, a parking garage loomed. Sarah nodded towards it. "We need a car."

"We're going to steal one?"

"Cody, we just burnt down a hotel. I think a little auto-theft is just jay-walking at this point." We walked towards the garage.

"What's in Foxborough?" I was curious. After cryptically telling us that we were going to get some answers, Sarah had been pretty silent. I had begun to notice some differences about the siblings. Probably due to their age, Sarah was by far the more responsible of the two. In fact, she was almost more like Evan's mother than his sister. She took charge, decided where we were going, what we were doing, and reprimanded him. Still, Evan seemed to not care too much about what rules were in place. He had wandered out of his hotel room. Showed off his abilities without having much idea who I was. Burnt down a hotel and incinerated another human without batting an eye, and had even been ready to go another round with me on the Tipton's lawn.

And what about me? I'm running around with criminals, murderers, and, worst of all, strangers, all because they promised to give me some answers. I hadn't stopped long enough to think about the situation. If I did, self-doubt and anxiety would have frozen me in place. Fear would have reduced me to tears. It was by purely not thinking that I was able to remain with them, all because Zack had told me to. I had to trust him. He could read their minds. Even if he hadn't read everything, he had to have known enough to tell me to go with them. He had to have a reason.

I sighed inwardly. Zack was twelve. I was twelve. Evan was twelve. We were prepubescent kids. Children. I couldn't even use the toilet most of the year without a pass from a teacher. And I was trusting my life to Zack's to trust in Evan who had already shown himself to be unstable. It was insanity at its finest. Yep, we were children. Children with innate weapons so powerful we'd make even the staunchest gun advocate rethink his position.

"There's a man who lives there. He used to do research on people like us. I could sit here and try to explain pieces of what's happening to you, Cody, but there are a lot of holes that I can't fill in. Evan and I have been running from these people almost as long as he can remember." He looked slightly embarrassed at the mention of his youth. Question – why is it that we have such a problem with people mentioning our being young? Do we not like being seen as vulnerable when we feel so very weak and powerless most of the time? "I'm hoping he'll be able to explain it all, start to finish. From there, well, from there we'll decide what to do. Together."

***

One stolen car later, we were cruising along the inner-city roads, heading for Foxborough. I mentally added this to the list of crimes I had personally committed while in the company of others. When I was younger, they used to show us these clips in school about being peer pressured into committing crimes, and the kid who was too wimpy to say anything always ended up taking the fall, even though they always painted him as basically a good kid who just wanted to fit in. I smiled in the backseat, pressing my head up against the window. They imagined petty theft, drugs, maybe even a little violence is what I'd get myself into. I doubt they ever expected burning down a hotel and maybe straight up murder. Even though the thoughts made me want to vomit, there was a certain humor to the whole thing. As if the entire universe had suddenly rearranged itself to be a joke on ole' Cody Martin, the kid who was so good in school he may as well have been a stereotype.

"What did you mean back there, Cody?" Evan turned in his seat, already bored at fiddling with all the car's settings. He was obviously still mad at me, but that apparently wasn't going to get in the way of alleviating boredom.

"Hm? Mean what?" I didn't even bother to look back towards him. Apparently, boredom was enough of an excuse for him to bury his hatchet, but it wasn't going to be one for me.

"About your brother being the one to save us?" Sarah looked up in the rear-view-mirror, obviously paying attention to me now. She wanted to know too.

Maybe telling them was dangerous, but I was too tired to care at this point. I shouldn't be expected to have to deal with so much so soon. "After Zack took both of you out, he sort of paused everything." I shook my head as Evan's face turned incredulous and opened his mouth to scoff at my statement. "He sort of tapped into everyone else's mind and I guess made it so they didn't realize time was flowing? He did it so he could talk to me, I think. He said that he wanted to talk to me, anyway, he told me he was going to pretend that I had knocked him down and let the two of you up. He wanted us to get out of there and told me to stay away from Dad."

"That's kind of dumb. He went to all that trouble just to tell you to leave? I mean, he could've, I dunno, stopped them from even coming after us. And that's all he had to say to you? Leave?" I just shook my head and ignored him. Sarah explained.

"Evan, shut up. Cody's not going to tell you everything. That kind of conversation is probably personal." She looked back towards me. "Cody, I promise, you're going to see your brother again." I didn't have anything to say so I didn't. She finally turned back around and slammed on the breaks, narrowly avoiding smashing into the car in front of us.

It took us almost forty-five minutes to get to Foxborough, and another fifteen to turn down a neighborhood and pull to a stop in front of a house. I opened my door and got out. The night was cool and inviting, so very different from the inferno of the hotel we had so recently left. This little suburb didn't know the danger that had just driven in. I looked up at Sarah. "This is where we get answers?"

She nodded. "This is the man who began it all, and he's the one who's going to give us the full story. This is the house of Dr. Alexander Burns."

At that name, my heart nearly stopped.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Funny story – I got really drunk at a party Saturday night and screwed up publishing the chapter when I got home. Didn't realize it until just now.**

"This is the man who began it all, and he's the one who's going to give us the full story. This is the house of Dr. Alexander Burns." That had to be a common name. Boston was a big city, and it had a number of suburbs. Alex Burns couldn't be that uncommon. I had never heard of another one, but it doesn't mean he doesn't exist. I wanted to protest it. Say it wasn't so. I knew, though, that when I walked into that house I was going to meet my math teacher. Former math teacher, I guess. Do criminals still have to go to school? He had never given his title as a doctor, but it was obvious he was a smart guy, so him having a PhD wouldn't have been all that surprising. In a poetic sort of way, it all kind of made sense. It was that day in math that had started everything. Zack falling to the floor while reading Mr. Burns', or Dr. Burns', mind. Zack being rushed to a hospital. Zack being taken away. My family falling apart. My own manifestations. Zack returning. And now we were going back to where it all began, in a manner of speaking.

"Isn't he probably asleep?" Evan looked up at Sarah. I wished I had a watch. It was dark out, but that was all I knew.

"Doesn't matter. Come on – follow me." We carefully picked our way through his neatly cut, well kept lawn into his backyard, hopping the fence to avoid any noise from the gate. I cut my hand on the steel-wire fence, but I didn't say anything. I was too tired to talk. We walked over towards the back door. Sarah tried it. "Locked."

"Good. Let me do it." Evan lit his hand up and smiled crazily. Even after burning down a hotel, he was ready to go again.

"I'd really prefer it if you wouldn't do that." All three of us snapped our heads backwards at the noise. Standing behind us was Mr. Burns, fully dressed, and with a rifle in his hands, aimed at the ground.

***

"It was really stupid of you to come here. You know that, right?" Mr. Burns had taken us into his house and was busy making coffee. We were seated around his kitchen table. I looked over at a clock. 3:45. It was pretty late. I hadn't been up this late since Zack and I had tried to spend the night in the supposedly haunted suite. I smiled, remembering the incident. Sarah was sitting there with her arms crossed, clearly not happy with the way things were going. Evan just looked bored and started dancing fire across his fingers. "Really, what was your plan? Break into my house, hold me hostage, and force me to answer your questions?"

"Something like that."

"One of the most powerful precogs we ever met, and still you don't have the ability to think things through." She glared at him. "Sugar?"

She shook her head. "No, just cream. And we needed answers. Martin was here tonight."

He nodded and set about finishing two cups of coffee. "I know. He had only been gone fifteen minutes when I heard you three in the backyard. I thought maybe he had come back for me." He walked over with the cups, setting one down in front of her and then taking his own and sat down next to me at the head of the table, opposite Sarah.

"Why would he come back for you?"

He shrugged. "I can't tell you that. Possibly, he thought that I might be a liability. It might have occurred to him that, since I wasn't working for him anymore, I might be more likely to help you, should you come this way. He can't have seen it as a coincidence that you showed up in Boston of all places." They stared at each other. Sarah's expression softened, and she reached for the cup.

"It wasn't, exactly. We, Evan and I, came here for you. It wasn't until we actually hit the city that I..." she stopped and looked at me.

"If we're going to have an exchange of information, I think it would be best to be honest with each other."

Sarah started mumbling. "I don't know...exactly...what are you..."

He cut her off. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. Now, you've come here to find out what is happening, and I can't tell you that." She started to glare again and opened her mouth to talk. He either didn't notice or didn't care. "I can't tell you that because I no longer am privy to that information. What I can tell you is what has happened." He looked down at me. "Cody, I take it by now you've noticed a common thread between you, Sarah, Evan, and your brother, Zack?"

I shook my head. "Not really. I mean, we can all do stuff, I think." I looked at Sarah. "She sometimes closes her eyes and stuff, and Evan said it was seeing. Like, she knew when Dad showed up, even though it hadn't happened yet." I looked over at Evan, who was no longer playing with his fire and was watching us now. "Evan can create and control fire." I looked back at Mr. Burns. I still didn't feel comfortable thinking of him as Dr. Burns. "Zack can read minds. Or, at least he could. Now he can do all kinds of stuff with people's thoughts. Make them think what he wants." I bit on my finger. It was kind of a nervous habit I had, whenever I got anxious. "And I can move stuff with my mind. But, other than being strange, it doesn't seem like we have too much in common at all."

He nodded. "That's what we thought for a while too. Do you know what the Cold War was?"

I nodded, but Evan shook his head. "The Cold War? What's that, like a war in the North Pole." What an idiot.

"No, it was a prolonged period of tension between the Soviet Union and the United States which manifested in things like the Space Race, Arms Race, and a series of proxy wars." I looked up at Mr. Burns. "Right?"

"More or less. Sounds like a definition ripped straight from a text book, but it will suffice. During the Cold War, the United States decided to look into the possibility of psychic abilities and their potential uses in modern warfare. We were most interested in the ability of precognition and remote viewing, the ability to see things that hadn't happened yet or had happened some great distance away from the observer." He nodded towards Sarah. "Sarah, here, had more potential than any precog we had met."

"You keep saying 'we'."

"Yes, I was the head researcher for Project Stargate, which was the name of the military sponsored project. Our research there led us to the discovery of a number of physic phenomenon – pyrokinesis, the ability to control and manipulate fire; electrokinesis, the ability to control and manipulate electricity; telekinesis, the ability to move objects with one's mind; telepathy, the ability to control and manipulate the mind. Including precognition, which we've already gone over, that means we discovered five such abilities. We're fairly certain we have discovered all of them, though, of course, there could always be more. This research was done almost in complete secrecy to prevent the possibility of Soviet spies learning what we were doing."

"But how would knowing about this stuff help anyone?"

"Cody, think about it." This time, it was Sarah who spoke. "If I could spy on countries thousands of miles away, or predict where and when a military strike was going to happen, that has huge advantages."

"It runs even deeper than strictly the usage of hard power. The amount of economic and diplomatic power a country could gain by being able to predict the happenings of other countries political climates and their markets. And then there's always preventing natural disasters. Cody, the discovery of precognition alone would have been worth the billions of dollars that went into funding this project. And then there were other uses. Telepaths made counter-intelligence a near trivial pursuit. Electrokinetics displayed an amazing ability at espionage when it came to infiltrating computer networks, as well as always having a rather dangerous weapon available, as was true with pyrokinetics. The possibilities seemed honestly limitless at the time."

I nodded. "So, you studied physics?"

Evan laughed. "Captured is more like it."

"It is true that not all participants were voluntary. We had peripheral concerns. Imagine what some of these people could do if left to their own devices. We license people to drive cars or own guns, but here we had the possibility of dozens, maybe even hundreds of people walking around with perfectly concealed weaponry more powerful than most contemporary weaponry in terms of sheer firepower." Mr. Burns sighed and rubbed his face. "At the time, our mode of thinking was that these people posed a significant threat to themselves and others if left alone."

"You just kidnapped people because they were different? Because they were like us?" Suddenly, I started to understand why Sarah and Evan seemed so bitter. "And my Dad was part of that?"

"We captured people because they were dangerous, but you're jumping a bit ahead in the story, although the answer to your last question lies somewhere in between a yes and no. Like I said, we were studying, training, and deploying these individuals across the globe to combat the Soviet threat. Since the operation was mostly in secret, though, it was also hidden from most governmental and military officials. In fact, not many knew of its existence, despite our extensive funding. We operated almost entirely in secrecy from the rest of the country, deciding what we thought would be best given our full access to intelligence, along with our rather more pronounced intelligence system." He looked over towards Sarah. "Whatever you may think of me, we did save lives."

"I notice that you're glossing over some of the more horrid history of that place. How about you tell Cody what happened to those who wouldn't cooperate? How about you tell him what happened to those who didn't "make it"? How about you tell him what happened when Woodward decided that there were inside threats? You're the one who said we needed to be honest with each other." Sarah slammed her now empty cup down on the table and pushed her chair back from it, apparently disgusted to even be at the same table as him.

He sighed again and then looked back at me. "It was a grueling process. We had to be certain that our psychics had complete control over their abilities and could be deployed successfully as field agents with only minimal oversight. It is true that many died during their intensive training. And when it was clear that there was a lack of trust or cooperation, well, we had rather coercive methods of getting them to cooperate." I suddenly remembered my brother and his ability to control people's minds.

"You brainwashed them, didn't you? With the telepaths?"

"Of course, you can see why it was such a brilliant answer, can't you? If someone disagreed with us, we'd simply make them agree. And not by harming them, but just by making them think they agreed. It wasn't exactly that easy, as there was always mental resistance that had to be broken down. Agents were never really the same after going through such treatment. It seemed to break the very essence of who they were. Their being, so to speak." A chill went through my spine. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. And now my brother was a part of this sadistic program.

"But you were shut down. I heard my mom tell my dad that. The government shut you down."

He chuckled. "You know, Cody, it's really a wonder how you managed to survive in your house, knowing all that you did. When we spoke about your brother, I knew you were keeping a lot from me, and I wanted to warn you then. But, of course, warning you would simply have put you in more danger." The room was silent, other than the electric hum of the refrigerator. "Yes, we were shut down. General Woodward, who headed up the operation, began to realize even more practical applications of our program. He started reassigning precogs and telepaths to domestic assignments, seeking out those who he viewed as being internal threats and then eliminating them."

"That doesn't seem so bad though. Getting rid of spies?"

Sarah shook her head. "It wasn't just spies, Cody. Woodward had a god-complex in the worst way. He took out anyone he thought even might pose a threat, be it politically, professionally, or otherwise. He didn't even kill them all. He'd have them arrested, discredited, whatever he could do to remove politicians who wanted to cut our funding or people who thought a secret project that had almost complete autonomy was a threat to liberty."

"It's true that he was rather quick to attempt and remove opposition. His work with, and reliance upon psychics led him to quickly distrust almost any other form of information. He believed they were the most powerful tools available to mankind, and should be cultivated and used accordingly. As a result, several things happened in the late 80s. First, there were precious few psychics, and even fewer that made it to adulthood. Woodward commissioned most of the research team to start looking into genetically altering infants in the hopes of giving them psychic powers. However, since they don't manifest until puberty sets in, it was difficult to see the results of our research." I blushed as I realized that this meant Zack had hit puberty before I did. I guess he was right about being older. Nobody seemed to notice. "Secondly, Woodward began to distrust the democratic process, believing it to be based on a limited scope of information. More than ever, he began to interfere with elections across the globe, under the belief that he could make better decisions with his psychics than a mass of people could. Finally, he decided to bring the public into the open and declare that there was no longer a need for any oversight. The project, he said, would now lead the country."

I sat there, trying to comprehend what that would have meant. "You mean a coup? He wanted to take over everything using the psychics he had?"

"Yes, Cody, and not just his psychics. He tried to use what portions of the military he could isolate and convince that the highest officials in the government had been taken over by Soviet spies. There weren't many, but there were some. The insurrection was quietly put down, Woodward was arrested for high treason, as were all of his conspirators, and there was a full inquiry into the research we had been doing at Fort Meade, where we were based. The researchers were told to find a cure for what we had done to those children, and then we would all be tried before a military tribunal and then sentenced to life in prison. I can't say that I blame them, although that life didn't appeal much to me."

"But you're not in jail. Did they find you innocent?"

He laughed. "Hardly. We got wind of what was going to happen before the fort was seized and we were all arrested. I fled. Several of the children were secreted away, although not until after cures were administered. Carey, a field agent who wanted out, was given you and Zack to care for and watch to see if the cure actually worked, in exchange for Kurt getting her out of Meade before they came to arrest her as well. Kurt, who also managed to avoid arrest, routinely checked up on the two of you as the rest of the team that fled tried to reorganize and start again."

"And you still work with them?"

"Not exactly. I gave over everything I took with me to Kurt as he tried to reorganize a team. Other than that, though, I have been out of contact since '92, when the project was permanently shut down. Based on the events of tonight, though, I'd say it's a fair bet that they're working again.

I laid my head down in my arms on the table. I didn't know what to think or who to trust anymore. I looked back up at Burns and fought back the tears that were burning their way into my eyes. "Does this mean that Mom and Dad aren't my parents."

"Cody," I felt an arm on my shoulder. I turned and saw Sarah kneeling down so her head was level with mine. "The children that they used for this project all came from orphanages. Evan, me, and you and Zack too." I pulled away from her touch. Getting up, I walked out the back door, ignoring their calls for me to stay.

***

I was sitting on a porch swing. My first thought was to run away, but I was tired, and I really didn't think it was worth it. Nobody had lied to me, exactly, although Dr. Burns had been very misleading all year while playing as my teacher. Even if they were all lying to me, it wouldn't have mattered. I still had nowhere to go. I sighed and kicked my shoe into the ground, sending the swing backwards. Where was Zack when I needed him? He always knew what to do. I was smart and could help him when it came to pure thinking, but I never could make a decision. I examined everything too thoroughly, always second-guessing everything. Zack could make a decision in a heartbeat. They weren't always good decisions, but he always had something. And, more often than not, it was his quick thinking that got us out of trouble. The swing went back and forth, losing momentum with each pass until it came to a stop.

A hand touched my shoulder and someone sat down next to me on the swing. I looked over. It was Sarah. "Hey, how ya doin'?"

I shrugged and shook my head. I didn't know what to say. One more thing I didn't know. "Cody, I know how you must be feeling right now -"

I cut her off. "Oh, do you?"

"Yeah, I do. Hurt and confused. You just found out that you've been lied to your entire life by the people who were supposed to care about you. You're trusting your lives to complete strangers who haven't been very honest with you so far either. You miss your brother, and you just want to go back to having a normal life, before any of this started." She gently rocked the swing backwards and forwards. "That about sum it up?"

I took a deep breath. "When we were younger, everyone called me the smart twin. Zack never really made good grades, and he didn't ever care a lot about school. But I did. It was the only thing I had. We were moving around all the time, never staying in a city for very long, and so I didn't really have any friends. Just Zack. Nobody ever likes the new kids. So I studied hard all the time. It was just who I was. I wanted to be able to help Mom out, so she wouldn't have to work her whole life, and I wanted to be able to help Zack out too, because I never thought he was going to amount to anything." I paused and looked down at my shoes. "It used to make me feel really guilty when I'd think things like that. Zack supported me a lot. We fought and stuff, but it was just brother fights. He always let me be the smart one because I needed that. And he was the athletic one. You know what I figured out though?"

"What's that?"

"Zack was always smart. He just didn't care about school. I learned facts and memorized equations, but that doesn't make me smart. It just means I memorized a lot. Zack could work through real-life problems faster than anyone I know. Whenever we were in trouble, or just whatever, it was always Zack who came up with a plan to get us out. Even tonight, it was Zack who worked out how to save me in just the few seconds he bought us. Zack's good when it comes to real life stuff, and I'm just his tag-along kid brother who plays at being a scholar."

"Cody..." but she didn't finish that, so I went on.

"And that would be fine, but I'm not even Cody Martin. I'm just some test subject. The lesser twin without a family that was experimented on. Mom and Dad aren't even my parents, and they never cared about me anyway. To them it was just an assignment. I think Mom loved me. At least, that's what Dad accused her of." I laughed bitterly. "Accused her of it like it's a bad thing to love her kids." I sniffled, trying to fight back the tears welling up in my eyes. I had been trying not to cry for far too long. They came, and there was nothing I could do to stop them.

Sarah wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me in to her, bringing her other hand up to stroke my hair. "Cody, listen to me. It doesn't matter what Alexander told you. You're still Cody Martin, and nothing can change that. Your brother's abilities, your insecurities, and your lineage don't matter. You're twelve year old Cody Martin, and it's okay to be scared, and it's okay to be upset. If you need to cry right now because of how alone you feel, that's alright. I'll stay right here with you and not say a word about it tomorrow. But I want you to know you're not alone. You don't have any reason to believe me – everyone who's ever asked for your trust has broken it so thoroughly that I'd be surprised if you ever managed to trust another living person again. But it wasn't a coincidence that I picked you up on the street."

I looked up, confused. Her body more than physically warmed me; it sent a sense of security through me. I saw in her a strange mix of sisterly affection and motherly protectiveness. We weren't related, and, yet, we were. All because we had been tampered with to produce human weaponry. We were related at a fundamental level that could not be denied.

"I had been watching you from a distance for a long time. Evan and I both. I know you don't exactly like him right now, but, trust me, he's a good kid." I yawned, and she kept talking about their life. How she had been fourteen when the project was officially terminated. She had managed to escape with an infant, Evan, after he had been genetically altered. How, even though they weren't related, she had raised him as her brother. "So you see," she said, "even though we weren't related, we're still family. We're all a family, Cody." She went on, describing their life on the streets, trying to stay away from government agencies in case they were spotted. And how she finally had seen a vision of he and Zack, and how she knew that she needed to come to Boston to finish Project Stargate, once and for all.

I closed my eyes and took comfort in the presence of her voice as I drifted off to sleep. A sleep that came after what felt like weeks of horror.


End file.
